How to Do a Card Trick Called Cops and Robbers

This card trick is a big hit with children, as they really think that all the cards end up together. The key to the card trick is to set up the deck prior to even saying you are going to do the trick. What I will usually do is to start shuffling the cards after we have finished a card game and as I am talking to the kids, I am setting up the deck so they do not even realize it has been done when I say..."hey, do you want to see a card trick?"

The deck needs to be set up with one Jack on the bottom. You then take out three Jacks and one King which are used in the trick.

Net is to set up the story and have the kids participate in putting the cards in the deck. I tell the kids that the 3 Jacks are the robbers and the King is the cop. The three robbers are running away from the cop and they come upon the empty house (the deck of cards on the table). I will be elaborate with my cards running across the table and my kids just love it...even the 14 year old girl still laughs! You can give the three Jacks to the child and chase them with the King card, too...that is always fun as well.

So when you are ready to do the trick, tell them that the robbers decided to hide in this abandoned house and one decided to go in the attic. Have the child/person put one of the Jacks on the top of the deck. Now, the second robber has decided to hide in one of the rooms in the middle of the house. Have the child/person cut the deck and put the Jack in the deck. Or you can just have them slip it in somewhere, too.

The next step is critical to the success of the trick. Tell them to put the last Jack under the deck, that the last robber has decided to hide in the basement. Be sure to pick up the deck yourself, as you don't want to expose the hidden Jack on the bottom.

Now, you take the King and play it up that the cop has come up to this abandoned house and decided to check it out for the robbers. He decides he is going to go in the attic and turn the house upside down to check out all the rooms. This is done by you putting the King on the top of the deck and then splitting the deck...you can have the child/person cut the deck. You then place what was that bottom half on the top.

What this has now done is taken the King and the Jack that were on the top and the hidden Jack and the one that was placed on the bottom and put them all together. However, the child/person does not know that the Jack was hidden on the bottom, so they think that the one from the middle that they placed there is now with the King.

After you have "flipped the house upside down" you can place the deck back and tap it to really play up the "magic". Then pick up the deck and fan through it to find the King with one Jack on one side and two on the other.

If it is an older child or an adult, they might pick out that the Jacks are different. For example, if you hid the Jack of Hearts on the bottom, but put the Jack of Diamonds in the middle...then obviously the King will be with the Jack of Hearts not the Jack of Diamonds.

This is really a hit and I will not tell my children how it is done, so I hope my daughter does not read this article J

Have fun!